Conventional footwear articles have a sole and an upper attached to the sole. Footwear manufacturing has historically been a cut-sew-assembly operation that is labor intensive. Panels of upper materials are cut to size and sewn together to create the upper. The sole is attached to the upper using a number of different techniques to create the finished footwear article. Recent developments in footwear design employ knitting technology to form portions of footwear and the upper in particular. In some instances, flat bed knitting is used to form a planar knitted fabric blank. The planar knitted fabric blank is formed into a specific shape so that it can be folded or wrapped into a near completed shoe upper. Once the upper is formed, the sole component or other durable structures are attached to the knitted shoe upper consistent with conventional footwear manufacturing techniques. While some sewing is required to create the shoe upper using flat-bed knitting, fewer sewing steps are required compared to conventional shoe manufacturing. Although flat knitting may result in increased material utilization, because fabric cutting in minimized, there are design limits and production inefficiencies inherent in flat knitting.